Snapchat takes big step towards protecting its ‘Geofilters’ from Facebook

Snapchat has taken a large step in its war against Facebook’s encroachment.

The company’s owner Snap Inc, has reportedly bought a patent that covers its geofilters system. This according to a TechCrunch screen grab of an internal company email, explaining the nature and valuation of the deal with internal staff.

The patent was previously filed by Mobli in 2012, an Israeli company that attracted investment from the likes of Serena Williams, and was the initial brainchild of the geofilters system.

Snapchat’s sponsored geofilters is a key revenue stream for the service’s owner, Snap Inc

“In continuation with our email below,” the mail reads, “we are happy to let you all know that the transaction of selling our ‘Location based filters’ patent to Snapchat was closed, and the $7.7M’ consideration was received.”

That US$7.7-million — reportedly the highest amount paid for a patent in Israeli history — might be a key player in years to come, as Facebook seemingly adopts more of Snapchat’s features into its primary apps and services.

But while Facebook has recently targeted Snapchat’s look, feel and mechanics, geofilters is Snapchat’s real weapon. The image overlays that “communicate the ‘where and when’ of a Snap in a fun way” is a key revenue stream for the company that contributed towards its US$404-million revenue figure in 2016.

This is especially true as the relatively fresh company expands and builds its product.

Current daily active user numbers stand at around 161-million, about half of Twitter’s quoted monthly active users, and less than three times that of Instagram.

TechCrunch also states that neither the founder of Mobli or Snap Inc itself commented on the report.